Essay Writing Tips and Tricks step by step for students & kids

Essay Writing Tips and Tricks step by step for students and kids

How to write an essay?

Essay Writing Tips and Tricks step by step-Before Essay Writing, we should know the details it. The dictionary meaning of the word ‘essay’ is a piece of writing usually short, on anyone subject’. In other words, it can be said that the essay must be short in length, elegant in style and written a complete account of a particular subject or a branch of the subject from a point of view. Essays are nothing but records of the personal impressions of an essayist.

Writing a short essay is generally perceived as more of a difficult job than writing an essay of about a thousand or more words. A short essay consisting of around five hundred words is quite a test of

Essay writing

critical understanding of the given topic, sense of precision and lucidity of language. In a long essay you can build up your arguments in a relaxed manner and can in fact, expand the scope of the discussion, but it is not so if you have to deal with the subject right from the word go.

However, this does not mean that the level of discussion in a short essay is likely to be shallow. To be able to get to the very pulse of the subject matter is a skill which you “ve to learn through continuous practice and application of thought. Admittedly, there can not be any quick-fix method for achieving the ability, yet some “measures” can be advised.

Classification of Essays ( Essay Writing topics)

While writing a piece of composition we may describe an object, narrate a story of adventure, give information about a subject clearly explaining and exposing it, argue for or against a proposition, or imagine a situation of which we have no actual experience. According to these various forms and purposes of composition, essay may be classified as Descriptive Essays, Narrative Essays, Reflective Essays and Imaginative Essays.

1. Descriptive Essays: How to write an Essay It consists of a description of some persons, places or things. Here we express in words what the eyes see and ears hear. We describe a scene, an object or person we have met, eg animals, plants, towns, countries and phenomena of nature and incidents.

2. Narrative Essays: A narrative essay consists mainly of the narration of some event or series of events. The event should be treated as a subject for thought and comment, and so the essay should be more or less reflective. Narrative essays may be of historical stories of legends, biographies, an account of a natural disaster, a journey or voyage, a story real or imaginary.

3. Reflective Essays: A reflection is a thought on some subject, or on an idea arising in the mind. So,a reflective essay consists of reflections of thought on some topic which is generally of an abstract nature eg habits, qualities such as truthfulness, heroism, patriotism, or social, political and domestic topic such as riches and poverty, liberty, family life, education and so on. In treating such themes, you should try to reason and support your views with facts and arguments. ,

4. Imaginative Essays: Essays on subjects such as the feeling and experience of a sailor wrecked on the deserted island may be called imaginative essays. In this category, you may be asked to write an essay on the topics or situations of which you have not had any experience in real life eg “If I were a Prime Minister’, ‘The Autobiography of a River”, ‘India After 200 Years’ etc.

The above classification of essays consists of the broader heads under which any type of essays can be categorised. But, for convenience and clarity, we have categorised the essays under 10 different heads.

1. Descriptive Essays.
2. Biographical Essays.
3. Science Essays.
4. Student and His World.
5. India and Her Problems.
6. Imaginative Essays
7. Literary Essays.
8. On Proverbs and Sayings.
9. Miscellaneous Essays.

Structure of the Essay or Essay writing rules

An essay, irrespective of its type, has a three-tier structure, namely

(a) Introduction

(b) Body

(c) Conclusion

Introduction is the most vital and essential part of an essay. It is the beginning of an essay. The introduction is reflective of the whole essay. All points which you are going to discuss in the body should be logically incorporated in this part so that after going through the introductory part of your essay, the examiner can guess what you are going to write in the body and conclusion. Hence, this part of the essay should be effective and impressive. In other words, the Introduction is the paragraph that leads you directly into the subject proper.

The body is the second part of a three-tier essay. All the points that are mentioned in the introduction should be discussed and well supported with arguments one by one in different paragraphs. In this section, there is a scope for showing off your writing skill, imaginative skill, reasoning power, command of language etc. The paragraphs constituting the body of the essay are vitally connected with each other one paragraph leading into the other. Every paragraph is a string of sentences so that we can say that ‘the sentences form the bases while the paragraphs make up the superstructure so that the whole essay becomes a finished piece of literary architecture’.

Conclusion of an essay is also very important. The conclusion should not be repeated with the points, examples, arguments etc that are covered in the body. Points should of suggestive nature ie you may take the liberty to give some concrete suggestions. The conclusion must give the impression that it is natural and inevitable.

We can say that the structure ( formate of essay writing) of the essay is just like that of a building. It must have (a) Introduction just like the porch of a building, (b) Body corresponding to the main building and (c) Conclusion resembling the finishing-touch given to the building. The whole building, though made up of parts is one structure. Similarly, unity is the grand characteristic of the essay, all the three parts being united into one organic whole. The whole essay is but a string of paragraphs.

INTRODUCTION OF ESSAY WRITING FORMAT

Para I

Para II

Para III

Para IV

 CONCLUSION 

Essentials of an Essay

The essentials of an essay in order to preserve its unity are:

(1) Relevancy: Whatever has no direct bearing on the subject of the essay must be omitted. Padding an

essay with an irrelevant matter may swell the bulk of the essay, but it is sure to reduce its value. It is not the quantity of the essay that counts, it is its quality that matters. The literary essayist may have justification in bringing in some thoughts loosely connected with the theme of the essay because he is

to develop interest, otherwise, he will have no readers. This is not the case with the student essayist. He can be quite sure of his reader the examiner who must go through his essay and all that the examiner wants is that he should write to the point. The student, therefore, should attend carefully to the wording of the subject set and be sure of its meaning. Long illustrations, fanciful introductions only remotely connected with the subject proper, and facts or ideas, not having a direct bearing on the subject are irrelevant.

(2) Proportion: Treatment of the subject must be proportionate, ie the relative importance of the different points of an essay must be realised and space should be allotted to them accordingly. Each topic must have a proportionate space. A big introduction for a small essay, for instance, would be as ridiculous as a large porch before a small building or a big head on a small body. Trifling matters, if at all introduced in the essay, should never occupy a large space. Important and weighty ideas, on the other hand, should occupy a prominent position.

It is, therefore, absolutely essential to make a mental analysis of the subject under distinct heads and mentally fixing as much space to each head as it deserves. Suppose the subject set for the essay is “Education” and you divide it under three heads, intellectual, moral and physical. It would be a great mistake to devote half the space to intellectual education, leaving the other half to the other two topics. Nor will it be right to lay emphasis on physical education and treat moral education in an insignificant manner, inasmuch as it will create a false impression that you consider physical education to be more important than moral education.

(3) Coherence: A Bengal Board of Education Circular lays down the meaning of a composition as “the arrangement of the right words in the right order, so as to convey clearly a consecutive meaning”. Composition, in fact, is a process of building-up one brick carefully laid on another, keeping up a smooth surface. Hence the ideas must succeed in an orderly arrangement and keep up a natural sequence so that coherence of the whole essay may be secured. The connection between the different ideas should be made absolutely clear so that the mind of the reader may glide smoothly from one paragraph to another.

The stages of Composition

(a) Matter

(1) Collection: The very first thing we want in connection with a subject set for an essay is to have clear ideas relating to it. We can get these ideas from (i) Observation, (ii) Reflection, and (iii) Reading. We must collect all ideas that we can get from books dealing with the subject as well as invent ideas of our own by thinking over the subject. Many ideas would occur to us as we try to jot down the different points relating to the subject. If ideas do not readily come by reflection, it is a good plan to put questions to ourselves under the different heads of “Why”? “What”? “Where”?

These are called mental tin-openers because they open out many thoughts pertaining to the subject. All the ideas thus obtained should be noted down pell-mell at one place. This is called the heap. Remember that it is not necessary to deal with the subject exhaustively and so we need not be anxious to find out all the points. It is enough if we can think of a few salient features and deal with them from our own points of view. Originality after all means the setting of old truths in a new light. One thing we must, however, guard against. We may derive ideas from newspapers and magazines but we must not follow their style. In other words, we may take up the matter but not follow their manner. The best sources of deriving our ideas are books.

(2) Selection and Arrangement: Out of the heap of ideas thus obtained, we must at once reject all those ideas which do not have any distinct bearing on the subject. Retain only those points which are quite relevant to the subject. Then we must proceed to put our material in an orderly form. An orderly arrangement of the different points under the different structural parts of the essay (Introduction, Body, Conclusion) is as necessary as making a drawing or plan of a building before actually commencing to build it. No essay should ever be attempted without making a plan ora skeleton outline. At least one-sixth of the time must be given to planning out the theme and jotting down the main points in their right order. Keer the central thought always before your mind and take up one point after another.

(b) Manners of Writing Essay

After we have constructed the outline we should proceed to write the essay. At this state we have to decide the manner in which the essay shall be introduced.

(1) How to begin an Essay: The beginning of the essay must be brilliant and striking. It must be so attractive as to rivet the attention of the reader. But it must, at the same time, be a fitting introduction to the subject of the essay. One of the most common mistakes concerning the Introduction of the essay is to begin far away from the main subject. There should be no beating about the bush, no hesitation to plunge into the subject proper at once. Don’t be like the bather who sits on the bank of the river thinking of plunging into the water, but dive in at once. It is, therefore, necessary to have a short paragraph for the introduction. Ordinarily, five or six lines would be quite sufficient.

Remember that ‘the least good way’ is to begin with a definition. An appropriate quotation regarding the subject or a reference to some received opinion would be a very good beginning. Sometimes an anecdote or fable may be substituted for a quotation. But the commonest form would be a general statement that includes the special subject”. We should not follow the logical order. The natural order of unfolding an argument as in conversation is the best way for introducing a subject. We should imitate “the chance beginning of a conversation”.

(2) The main body of an Essay: The body is the main part of the essay and contains all the facts and illustrations appropriate to the subject as well as those reflections of yours which have a direct bearing on the themes of the subject. It contains the successive topics in a string of paragraphs containing ideas that should increase interest and strength as we go on till we reach the climax. We should not, however, try to exhaust the subject. We should concentrate our attention on. certain outstanding topics and develop them within the limits of space and time at our pros and cons of a topic, ie, the favourable and unfavourable points, because the essay is not a technical treatise, but a literary paper of general interest.

The plan of the essay which has already been made should be strictly adhered to. The structural principles of the essay already given should be borne in mind when we begin the body of the essay. Relevancy or Unity, Order or Method, or Coherence and Proportion should never be sacrificed. The rational arrangement of the different paragraphs, so that one paragraph may naturally lead to the other, should always be kept in view. The net impression which the examiner should get from the middle of the essay is that the parts, although distinct from one another, are yet coherent, ie, hanging together, the first topic leading up to the second, the second to the third and so on. In other words, our ideas should not only be clear but also regular. There ought to be a sequence of ideas ‘not hopping backwards and forwards’. The central thought of the essay should run through the whole of the middle of the essay.

It often happens that young candidates in an examination entertain unnecessary fears lest the view taken by them on a particular topic may not be liked by the examiner. This apprehension is baseless, in as much as the essay is the ‘expression of a bit of yourself or your personal point of view. Care should, however, be taken that one point is dealt with at a time. Confusion is generally created by putting more than one ideas in a sentence and more than one topic in a paragraph.

(3) How to end an essay: The conclusion of the essay is as important as the introduction, in-as much as it is mainly responsible for leaving the impression in the mind of the examiner. As such no part of the essay requires more attention than the concluding part. It must be the strongest part of the essay and must consist of a few strong vigorous sentences. The concluding paragraph may consist of only one sentence, but it should always be natural and not forced, containing a striking thought. It must leave a sting behind and at the same time create the impression in the mind of the examiner that your Essay writing skills.

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